Athena
by wearethewitches
Summary: continuation of starry night 'verse - fighting hard doesn't always result in a win, either.


Alura cannot remember any phone numbers or addresses of her family in National City, but Diana believes they should be informed she is safe and sound. It is cruel to deprive a family of their loved one. Alura is the kind of person who had notebooks that tell her things she should know – pieces of information she needs to know in the long run that she isn't intimately familiar with slip from her head.

Heading to National City with the names of some of Alura's family – _Kara Zor-El, Catherine Grant, Kal-El, Lara Lor-Van, Noel Van-Elliot_ – Diana begins her search, quickly finding herself at the base of a tall building. _CATCO_ is the company that inhabits it and Diana briefly wonders if Catherine Grant is someone important, not used to having to pay attention to such details about humanity. Their lives are fleeting and their businesses often change. Bruce's company has multiple names that she knows of, for instance, another example of the complexity of human beings. Searching Catherine Grant's name alongside National City saw 'CATCO' come up in the search engine, informing Diana without pressing enter that there was indeed a correlation.

Entering the building, Diana approaches the welcome desk beside the employees' electronic gates to the elevators, greeting the receptionist politely.

"Hello."

"Hello, ma'am. Welcome to CatCo Headquarters. What might your business here today be?"

"I'm looking for Catherine Grant, or her partner, a Kara Zor-El."

"Have you got an appointment, Miss…" the receptionist picks up her phone, pausing visibly as she waits for an answer.

"Prince," Diana offers, adjusting her glasses – the only disguise she lets Bruce offer her, "and no, I do not, though I am on urgent business for her mother."

The receptionist blanches. "Oh. Right. I'll send you right up, Ms Prince. Apologies." The receptionist calls over one of the security guards. "Please escort Ms Prince up to Ms Grant's office."

"Please follow me," the guard opens a gate, letting Diana through to the elevators. They ride up in silence, the guard seeming quite uncomfortable. Upon exiting the elevator, Diana is greeted with the flurry of a busy office, the guard leading her through a clear path to a large, open-plan office. At the main desk is a small blonde woman leaning back in her spinning chair, rapidly texting on her phone. Diana thinks she might have seen her on television.

"Who are you and what are you doing here in the middle of rush-hour?"

"Ms Grant, Ms Prince – here on business for Ms Grant." The security guard ducks out as Catherine Grant freezes, looking up at Diana with a startled expression.

"Really? I wasn't expecting her to contact me again until she returned to National City. Too busy on her book tour…"

"I believe there has been some misunderstanding," Diana begins, "I am here on Alura In-Ze's behalf."

Immediately the woman gets up, stalking over. "What? How? Who are you? Where is she?"

Diana views Catherine Grant calmly, breathing in deeply before speaking, eyeing how the small woman – who is far, _far_ smaller than Diana had expected for a grown woman and is smaller than even Stephanie – tugs at her sleeve edge in a clear sign of worry.

"Bruce should have helped her return to France by now, to sate the Parisian officials. She flew to America to apologise to her soulmate, who she had a verbal altercation with."

"That explains the phones," Catherine mutters, before motioning her to follow. Diana lets her lead her to a balcony, watching as Catherine shuts the doors. "Why didn't she fly home?"

"She had…a meltdown," Diana says the word slowly, remembering Cassandra's confusing speech prior to leaving Wayne Manor. "Alura is autistic. She was too upset to do much and even lost her voice briefly. Luckily, members of our household knew American Sign Language and Universal Palmer-Dorsal Limb Language."

"Palmer-Dorsal, that's how a hand is constructed, yes? Alien. Are 'members of your household' aliens, then? It's not an unfamiliar concept to me, thankfully."

"In a way, but not quite." Diana gives her a brief smile. "I am an Amazon of the island of Themyscira. We are a race separate from humans, but our island is here, on Earth."

Catherine hums, seeming to eye her critically, worry faded now as Alura's fate is revealed. She lifts her hand up, eyebrow rising in time. "May I?"

Diana smiles wider now, taking off her glasses and handing them over. Catherine takes them, grip tight. "I see. The famed _Wonder_ _Woman_. I'm loathe to say, Lois came up with a good name for you. 'The Huntress' is worse. I would have called your friend something far more…magnanimous."

"Artemis suits the name well, when she joins me on the battlefield." Diana thinks fondly of her beloved, happiness dipping to sadness as her thoughts drift to their daughter. "My true name is Diana, Princess of Themyscira."

"Cat Grant," Cat nods respectfully, handing back her glasses. "A pleasure."

"Likewise." Diana goes to speak more of Alura, but all of a sudden, she notices Cat completely still. "Lady Cat?" Slightly alarmed, Diana reaches forwards, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Lady Cat?"

Cat doesn't reply. Diana removes her hand, looking to the street below as it occurs to her that the city has gone auspiciously silent. Below, the hundreds of people on the sidewalks and on steps have frozen, the automobiles stopped and turned off, the only thing running wild being a lone dog, pulling its leash from its owners hand.

"What is going on?" Then everyone moves, but they are all somehow in time and that should be impossible. "What is happening to the humans?" Her own words cause a certain spark in her brain to fire and Diana puts her hand to her mouth, shocked. " _No._ "

" _What the hell?_ " She hears a voice inside the office and turns, opening the glass doors to the building and entering Cat's personal office again, looking to the bullpen to see a teenage boy twirling around, staring at the humans – most of whom, unlike their fellows in the street below, are working on their computers in time, fingers tapping away on keyboards. The boy lets out a noise of sudden fear at seeing her. "Oh Rao, you scared me! Do you know what is going on?"

"The humans – they are all being controlled. Look outside," Diana watches him speed over to the window, making a noise of confusion and horror. "What is your name?"

"Noel, Noel Van-Elliot."

"Alura's family. You are Kryptonian?"

"I wish," Noel looks over, swallowing, "How do you know about Alura?"

"The…my family took her in. She is safe and returned to France, but does not know your contact details by heart."

"Oh," Noel comes over to her, peering past her to Cat's desk, where the blonde now works, unblinking. "Okay. Okay. Aunt Cat's a zombie too. Not good, not good…"

"Only those not human are affected – how many other aliens are within your family?" Diana attracts his attention, hand going to his shoulder. The teen takes out his phone, scrolling through his contacts.

"Enough. By any chance have you got super-speed or powers of flight? I'm just super-strong, so, nothing much overall."

Diana admires how Noel is keeping himself calm, but knows it won't last. "I do not, unfortunately." Seeing a door hidden in the corner of the room, Diana directs him to it. "Hide in there. Tell your family what is going on and ask them to come here, so that we might regroup and figure out what is going on."

"Okay, calling Mom now…" Noel enters what turns out to be a bathroom, Diana standing guard in the doorway. The call connects. "Mom?"

" _Noel, what is it?_ "

"Mom, there's something wrong with the humans. They're all basically zombies. Where's mom?"

" _Lily's in her study with Len and Lex…just a moment._ " Diana waits, pursing her lips as Noel's mother reacts to her family's actions. " _They won't stop typing- oh my. I- oh Rao and Rea. I know that programming. I don't know how to stop it or what it means, but I know that programming. Noel, you need to call Kara next. This is Myriad. The only place it could possibly be coming from is Fort Rozz. I'll phone Kal-El. Send them to meet me at the Ranch._ "

"Okay, I'll call her. What do I do?"

" _Stay where you are, Noel. Make sure that no-one in CatCo hurts themselves or does anything to endanger their own lives, but not at the expense of your own – and check CatCo for other aliens. They'll be panicking and not know whats going on either. I'm going to hang up now. Stay safe, Noel, please._ "

"Yes mom, bye." Noel and his mother end their call, Noel dialling another number and contacting Kal-El.

"Get your Kal-El to come and pick me up," she asks as the call connects. Noel glances at her, nodding as he calls Kal-El – who turns out to be his brother – and asking him to stop by CatCo to pick up Diana.

"What can you do?" He asks after ending the call, looking her civilian wear up and down. Diana then calls her armour to her, human fabrics disappearing as her golden armour appears in it's place, sword and lasso at her belt, shield on her back. Noel's eyes widen. "I thought you were just a costumed vigilante!"

"I am much more than that, young Noel," Diana steps back sharply then as a flying man drops down on Cat's balcony, sword in hand. "Name yourself!"

"Kal-El," he reacts much as Noel did. "Wonder Woman! I thought you were a costumed vigilante!"

Diana shakes her head, lowering her sword and walking over purposefully. "I trust you know how to carry people while flying."

"Yeah, I've done it before a couple of time. I'll hold you under your arms, if you don't mind, Miss Wonder." He floats upwards and Diana smirks as she has a sudden thought, instead rushing out onto the balcony, using the concrete barrier as a step up into the sky. Kal-El makes a noise of fear before flying to her rescue, hands gripping under her arms as they begin to fly to the north east.

"The glasses idea was genius! I didn't recognise you!"

"You will need a disguise, if you decide to take up protecting the planet too, using your powers!" Diana replies, believing she might like this Kryptonian. Soon, they are touching down beside two other Kryptonian's.

"Moms," Kal-El says in greeting.

"Wonder Woman," the blonde nods sharply. "Kara Zor-El."

"Diana," Diana nods, "Before we investigate this 'Fort Rozz', I must inform you all that Alura In-Ze is safe."

"She is?" Kara's eyes widen. "How?"

"Another time," Diana deflects, not wanting to explain again. Reaching for her belt, she presses the button connecting her to Themyscira Radio, as Bruce calls it. "This is Diana, please reply."

A brief moment- " _Diana._ "

"Artemis, my love," Diana can't help the smile at her voice, before it disappears again. "You must come to where I am, now, preferably battle-ready. An evil has taken over the minds of many hundreds of thousands of humans and I do not know how far it has spread past National City."

" _I'm coming, Diana._ " A second later the sky above her begins to swirl, glowing gold and then Artemis jumps through, landing close enough to Diana that their lips brush before she moves them out of the way, half a dozen Amazons following before the portal closes. "I think that was a record. Never been that fast before. So, what are we facing?"

"A Kryptonian mind-control machine, built and presumably activated by terrorists, once led by Astra In-Ze." The dark-skinned Kryptonian, whose voice identifies her to Diana as Noel's mother, says, before looking to Kara. "Kara, if you see your aunt, do not hesitate. She was imprisoned in Fort Rozz for the murder of her commander."

"Rao…" Kara mutters, before looking to Diana. "Fort Rozz is due east of here. We'll be flying above. Are Amazons fast runners? Fliers?"

"We have the physiology of goddesses, demigods that we are," Artemis boasts calmly, emerald eyes glittering. "I doubt you could fly faster than we can run."

"Oh really?" Kara laughs starkly, "I've tested my powers – I've broken the sound barrier before."

"Indeed. Well then, shall we?" Artemis wastes no time in rushing east, followed by the other Amazons and then Diana as the Kryptonians take to the skies. Easily catching up with her beloved and her sisters, Diana treads forwards, jumping the paltry human fence and barely slowing as the Fort comes into sight – a hundred thousand tonne spacecraft, grey and shining in the sun.

As they reach where the Kryptonians have begun to hover, abruptly stopping as they see why, Diana wonders just how many aliens were imprisoned, for there are tens of other flying creatures and dozens of land-based aliens, some still popping up from the ground as their leader calls them.

"-try defeating us, even with your strange allies," a man looks down at them, dressed in a black body-suit with a red symbol within a diamond on his lapel. Diana recognises the Kryptonian emblem, though not the family and looks to Kara, who heads the Kryptonians. "It is strange to see you, Lara."

"And you, Non," Noel's mother, Lara, replies, anger audible in her voice. "Shut down Myriad."

"No. This test phase tells us more than you realise – even without Astra on my side, I was able to reconfigure it!"

"Without Astra?" Kara questions, before Lara abruptly begins to laugh, looking to Diana.

"Their general is gone! Astra was their leader and no matter her fate, that means these aliens are scattered soldiers!" Diana can tell Lara has no combat experience by the way she begins to fight Non, fist hitting Non's face – but her actions begin the battle.

It becomes apparent that most, however, are not soldiers. The Amazons easily dispatch their attackers, the Kryptonians facing their own kind three on one – or rather, they all face Non while Non's allies fail to even graze Diana and her sisters.

"I expected better!" Artemis shouts over the roars. Diana agrees with her, slicing the head off of a porcupine-like bipedal. "This Non has authority over most of them, it seems! Hopefully that means only the cleverest – those that would not cause trouble – and the psychotic genii have escaped!"

"Hopefully!" Diana replies, knocking out one of her flying pursuers by throwing her shield at them, summoning it back to her with a trick of magic.

Soon, their numerous enemies are lying on the ground, either dead or incapacitates. Diana looks over to where the distraught Kryptonians face Non, correctly guessing that once, he was family to them. Only Kal-El seems unfazed by him, but he still shakes with post-battle adrenaline, holding Lara to him closely. Diana immediately becomes concerned, going over and frowning at the general exhaustion leaking from her as she falls unconscious.

"What happened?"

"She solar-flared Uncle Non," Kal-El explains, "She used laser-vision until she didn't have any laser-vision left. Look." He motions to where Kara is holding Non tightly and Diana has to twist her head slightly, intrigued and vaguely worried about the black burns around his eyes. Kara shakes him slightly in anger, roaring in his face.

" _WHERE IS SHE? WHERE IS ASTRA?_ "

"Kara-" you start, before Non begins to speak and you quiet.

"Astra is- Astra is gone. She left and we dissolved our vows because one of the humans is her soulmate. _My_ wife, a _humans_ soulmate…" Non shudders, but Kara shakes him again.

"Where? Where is Astra? Where does she live? Is she with her soulmate?"

"With her. With that _damn_ Alex girl, damn human…girl…" Non falls truly unconscious and Diana has to physically wrench his body from Kara's grasp, pulling him to the pile of alive prisoners, tying your lasso around them as Artemis checks their other bonds are on properly.

"We have to get out of here," Kal-El says suddenly, eyes focused on the west. "There are trucks. Military trucks-"

"Come to Themyscira," Artemis invites as she opens a portal in the ground, the other Amazons helping her push the prisoners through, along with numerous bodies. "We will judge these cretins there and properly dispose of the deceased, as they are our kills. The humans will not bother you."

"Take my mother," Kal-El says, Diana coming over and gently taking the unconscious woman who already seems so much more fragile. _Has she used her powers up? Is it even possible?_ "We need to deal with Myriad."

"I had forgotten," Diana mutters guiltily, too caught up in the fight. She looks to Kara, who seems to regain her composure at that. "I will return to your Ranch tomorrow with the Lady Lara, if possible."

Kal-El nods, before he and Kara go to the Fort, going to a door that Kara opens and closes behind them. Diana looks to the trucks on the horizon, passing Lara to Artemis, who takes her through the portal. When the trucks are within the human range of sight, Diana raises her sword and shield, holding them in place while eyeing the military personnel within the vehicles, noting when some recognise her.

Then she goes through the portal, home to Themyscira.


End file.
